Chapter 627: The Dual Possibilities of Mimicry Soul
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 627: The Dual Possibilities of Mimicry Soul
"So... Yulan, Yu Yun, Yu Guo, are you willing to cooperate with me for more experiments?" I looked at the three Fool's Dream creatures and asked expectantly.
"Mhm! Yes!"
"Of course we are!"
"I'm fine with whatever."
"Then let's begin!" Although their answers were expected, their unconditional trust still made me instinctively want to ensure I didn't let their enthusiasm down.
As for how I needed them to cooperate, that brings us to the matter of the breakthrough point.
While I had used the Soul Dream to carry the dream consciousness of the Fool's Dream, it wasn't exactly a success. Rather, it felt more like a unilateral compromise on my part.
The Fool's Dream creatures themselves hadn't undergone any formal change.
To my current self, the emergence of the Soul Dream felt more like a clever trick, yet it was a power that belonged to me—a breakthrough point. I needed to experiment continuously within the Soul Dream to discover exactly what kind of environment caused the Fool's Dream consciousness to shatter.
The Soul Dream unified my Sea of Consciousness and my Dream Sea.
The Dream Sea could not carry the Fool's Dream consciousness, but the Soul Dream could.
In that case... I could do one thing: convert the Soul Dream toward the Dream Sea and carefully observe the changes within, letting the Fool's Dream consciousness clash against it.
The means of confrontation would be the "Mimicry Soul" technique, which had not yet fully branched out from the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art.
Since I couldn't achieve perfection in a short time, I would proceed step by step, bit by bit.
This was why I called the Soul Dream a breakthrough point; it provided a path for me to delve deeper through gradual progress. And all of this was for the sake of perfecting the Mimicry Soul technique.
As for what use perfecting this had?
The immediate effect didn't seem massive, but it represented a solid first step for the Fool's Dream to move from the essence of a dream creature toward the essence of a real-world lifeform!
Initially, I had planned to have the Fool's Dream consciousness perfect its consciousness descent through Enlightenment Meditation, then slowly attempt to enter my Dream Sea. Using the unification of the Dream Sea and Sea of Consciousness as a bridge, they would then descend into the Sea of Consciousness.
The Sea of Consciousness is a concept born with reality as its link. Only by finding a reality anchor for the Fool's Dream through another method would it have a chance to become a lifeform recognized by reality.
However, all those complex ideas from before had been simplified to this point.
It had come down to these two processes: the Soul Dream and... Mimicry Soul.
The utilization of Mimicry Soul was a brand-new realization I had regarding the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art.
The only pity was that this didn't seem to be a Sequence Derivation of that Great Spellbook. It was merely a derivation I had incorporated into the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art system by utilizing my own understanding of the soul.
This was a point of confusion for me. If the [Transcendent Knowledge] of the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art originated from the Fool's Dream, and the Fool's Dream was a natural revelation of the spell, how could a spell ability that allowed the Fool's Dream to complete a "Life Metamorphosis" not be a Sequence Derivation?
Of course, it was possible I was being too presumptuous. Since I had firmly committed to this path, I would naturally have to witness failure with my own eyes to know exactly where I had gone wrong.
Besides... what if I succeeded?
Moreover, I wasn't expecting success in a single step. If this derivation could be realized, then it had value in existing.
I spent an entire day on this attempt, and the Fool's Dream creatures found the cooperation very taxing.
After all, consciousness collapse was a heavy burden for them. They even called over other Fool's Dream creatures to help. Being a collective, they were the best of friends; even those not participating in the experiment were curious about what they were doing.
My experimental frequency was extremely high. After just one day, I had to pause.
The Fool's Dream creatures were reaching their limit. Although they insisted they could continue, I stopped anyway. I explained to them that I had made a breakthrough and needed some time alone to figure things out.
Whether they believed me or not, it was a valid reason to turn them away; they needed rest.
Now, I sat slumped in my chair, my mind replaying the experiences of the previous experiments.
After a full day of testing and researching through various methods, I couldn't say there was no progress on the Mimicry Soul derivation. In fact, the progress was immense!
At the start of the experiment, I hadn't imagined I could push this unrefined Mimicry Soul technique to such heights.
But the higher I stood, the more I recognized a certain fact...
I finally saw exactly how large the gap was between myself and my goal.
If I were to quantify my current progress, it was like a constant accumulation of experience. With every attempt, it felt as if "EXP +1000" was popping up over my head.
However, the goal I was chasing wasn't a specific number, but a qualitative change!
While it's said that quantitative change leads to qualitative change, I didn't know how long this accumulation would have to last. Maybe ten days, maybe a year, or even several years. I didn't doubt whether the Fool's Dream would be willing to accompany me for that long, but...
There had to be a shortcut to help me complete the simplest leap.
Accumulating more didn't guarantee success; it only increased the probability. And that timeline could stretch very far into the future.
Since I could succeed at any given node—it was just a matter of probability—then a shortcut must exist. And the earlier I wanted to succeed, the more difficult that shortcut would be to find.
But rather than calling this method a "shortcut," I preferred to call it a "revelation."
So, thinking back carefully, what else could serve as a revelation for the Mimicry Soul technique?
I sat in my seat in silence.
At that moment, another figure sat silently opposite me.
It was as if we were waiting to see who would lose their composure first, who would speak first.
Suddenly, the atmosphere became heavy, and even the sound of my breathing grew faint.
This atmosphere lasted for a long time, until...
"I give up."
The Knowledge Shadow suddenly seemed unable to hold it in any longer and spoke first.
"Is that so?"
"Hmph~ You've already thought of it. I won't get any sense of accomplishment from reminding you now." After saying this, the Knowledge Shadow vanished instantly.
And it was just as she said—I had thought of it.
In fact, the Knowledge Shadow had known from the beginning. I had guessed it from her "watching a play" expression; she was waiting for me to take the initiative to ask.
But I chose to conquer my own subconscious, to leap over the barriers of subjective cognition and recognize what it was.
The final outcome was obvious: I succeeded.
The answer was... myself.
What was the purpose of Mimicry Soul?
It was to allow dream creatures to transcend their essence, to mimic the state of a soul, and simulate the posture of a lifeform's essence.
But from beginning to end, I had overlooked one thing: my own life essence was a soul.
To achieve Mimicry Soul, I was the best possible target.
Reverse thinking.
I had built a foundation from nothing toward existence from one direction, yet I was already standing at the finish line. I could work backward from existence to nothingness.
The process in the middle would be the perfection of this technique.
Once I understood this, I realized that the Mimicry Soul technique wasn't the end point. It was just a goal I had set for myself, a limitation I had placed upon myself.
Mimicry Soul was ultimately just a "compromise" born from my inability to do something directly.
I couldn't make the Fool's Dream evolve into souls, so I settled for the next best thing: making their existence mimic souls.
But at this moment, I realized I was already standing at the goal's end.
The moment I understood, the other half of the concept was perfected.
From the void of dreams to the Mimicry Soul, and from the Mimicry Soul to a true soul lifeform—I named the latter half of the process "Soul Depiction."
Thus, Mimicry Soul was merely the "starting stage."
The process I temporarily named "Soul Depiction" was the true path to helping the Fool's Dream complete their life interpretation.
However, right now, I hadn't even finished building the foundation, so I couldn't clearly see what kind of landscape Soul Depiction would entail.
But having a name meant having a goal. And with a goal, I only needed to work hard to achieve it. That was enough.
"Amazing... so this is a revelation... When the revelation peels back the veil of the unknown, something that seemed nearly impossible just a moment ago now feels like a small hurdle..."
I shook my head slightly, marveling at the unpredictability of things. But had the difficulty of perfecting the Mimicry Soul technique actually decreased?
No. It was just that my cognition had improved, making what was difficult seem simple.
This was a true elevation of one's cognition.
Thinking of this, I unhesitatingly used the unrefined Mimicry Soul technique on myself. Don't forget, I was also someone who had used the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art.
When I first used it, it was also during a special period. The Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art had contributed significantly to my Self-Awakened Body Cultivation.
It was that experience that introduced me to the world of Body Cultivation and made me understand the structure of the body, the essence of life, and the importance of perception.
This time, I wanted to dissect the essence of life—the soul—even more deeply. Using my own soul as a template, I would provide guidance for the Mimicry Soul technique.
* * *
Meanwhile, with Millian's return, she brought a wealth of news back to Ninglan New City. This intelligence immediately set the student population ablaze!
In the newly discovered Seed Vault Transcendent Material Resource Mining Area, the Dream Overlap phenomenon had actually vanished!
This news was undoubtedly a massive boon for everyone. Furthermore, the Jack-of-all-trades Club directly announced a joint project with Teaching Assistant Yang Yuehan to build a second large-scale sanctuary.
Millian also brought another piece of news that was neither good nor bad: the dispersal of the Dream Overlap phenomenon was the work of Teaching Assistant Xiao Han, and she was willing to teach the technique.
Initially, everyone felt it was too good to be true, followed by a wave of wild joy. But when they heard the requirements for learning, everyone was stunned.
The first requirement was to possess a Domain. That single condition left them utterly bewildered.
They had no idea what a Domain even was. Some speculated it might be an extremely rare Domain-type spellbook from the academy, and they even dug up old intel showing that Yang Yuehan possessed an Over-consumption Spellbook called "Fire Rain Domain."
Given that many teaching assistants had already left Ninglan New City, it wasn't surprising the students thought this way due to their lack of information.
After all, those teaching assistants had only found out the truth from their own mentors after experiencing it firsthand.
A Domain... and a Domain-type spellbook were two completely different concepts!
Many people didn't understand the gap between them.
But they could ask. Wasn't there a Transcendent Mentor in Ninglan New City?
So, those students who considered themselves on good terms with Mentor Elena spontaneously went to inquire.
"Don't even think about it. A Domain is not the Domain-type spellbook you're imagining. There is no comparison between the two. Xiao Han had Millian bring that news back to tell you to give up on the idea entirely. In the Witch Academy, among all students and teaching assistants, Xiao Han is the only one who possesses a Domain."
Elena's words were merciless, instantly shattering their last shred of hope and stripping away their pretenses.
Among the entire non-mentor population, only Xiao Han had one!
What kind of concept was that?
That was an endorsement from a mentor.
But amidst the shock, it also proved one thing: if the mentors didn't step in, Teaching Assistant Xiao Han was the only person who could resolve the Dream Overlap phenomenon!
It should have been a good thing—moving from having no solution to having one.
But after going through the "it can be learned" phase only to have their expectations dashed, everyone felt like they couldn't even be happy if they wanted to. They still had to beg for help.
It was truly a difficult situation to swallow.
Moreover, it wouldn't be long before Ninglan New City itself was shrouded by the dreamscape. This was a problem that had to be solved.
Thus, many people quickly began to move.
However... many were driven by profit.
Since the Dream Overlap problem could be solved, and there were currently many resource points shrouded by dreams where mining progress was agonizingly slow, couldn't those be solved as well?
No one would say no to resources and profit. It was just a matter of asking someone for a favor; they had plenty of experience with that.
* * *
Time passed quickly.
My self-study of the Mimicry Soul lasted even longer than the research I did with the Fool's Dream.
As for the matters regarding the sanctuary outside, I didn't care at all. In any case, after handing the communication with Millian over to them, I had essentially handed over the lifeblood of the sanctuary as well.
My existence was more like a pillar—a pillar of strength.
"So this is Mimicry Soul... what a magical experience."
I looked at myself lying in the chair. Currently, I was in a state where my soul consciousness had left my body, and my soul had undergone a "devolution" under the Mimicry Soul technique, becoming a state close to a dream creature.
I suddenly realized that according to this logic, the Mimicry Soul technique wasn't just a starting point, but a "dual-way transfer point"!
It helped dream creatures mimic souls from nothing, completing a total soul metamorphosis through my envisioned "Soul Depiction."
Yet, I could use Mimicry Soul as a transfer point to reach the other extreme... becoming a dream creature...
No, that's not the right way to put it. This was a spell, so it should be... a Dream Creature Transformation Spell!
But... dream creatures weren't lifeforms. It couldn't be a transformation spell; it was more like a... Metamorphosis Art, a spell to take the form of a dream creature!
The thought was a bit too wild. After a brief moment of recovery, my soul returned to my body, my consciousness took control of my limbs, and I slowly opened my eyes.
"Mimicry Soul... should be considered a success..." I looked at the large dream creature still scurrying around my room. In the end, I didn't choose it. "An attempt of such commemorative significance should be saved for the Fool's Dream."